Jesse Baltutis, POLIS Water Sustainability Project Water and Watershed Planning Workshop January 18 th, 2012

Transcription

1 Jesse Baltutis, POLIS Water Sustainability Project Water and Watershed Planning Workshop January 18 th, 2012

2 A TALE OF TWO CITIES

3 WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT X flooded streets and basements X polluted beaches X degraded urban streams X ruined aquatic habitat X stressed aquifers X expensive drainage infrastructure that demands constant maintenance STORMWATER?

4 PROBLEM 1 concrete jungles CONCRETE JUNGLES DESIGN THAT CREATES RUNOFF more runoff large amounts of $$$ and resources are focused on drainage infrastructure because runoff (i.e.stormwater) is viewed as threat that ultimately needs to be removed

5 PROBLEM 2 RAINWATER DOWN THE DRAIN WASTE OF A VALUABLE RESOURCE Rainfall as a threat means communities miss the opportunity to capture and store rainwater for reuse Depletes local water supplies, undermines water conservation efforts, and leads to demand for expensive new water supply infrastructure

6 PROBLEM 3 STORMWATER GOVERNANCE WHO DOES WHAT? Urban water management decisions are made in a fragmented way with no one entity responsible for the entire hydrological cycle Land- and water-use decisions are typically separated across local government departments

7 THE STORMWATER CITY

8 THE RAINWATER CITY: 3 PRINCIPLES

9 PRINCIPLE 1 BUILD IT BETTER DESIGN CITIES THAT WORK WITH THE WATER CYCLE Widespread implementation of green infrastructure practices reduce runoff volume more effectively and are less expensive than conventional stormwater management practices

10 PRINCIPLE 2 LET RAIN DO THE WORK IMPLEMENT WIDESPREAD RAINWATER HARVESTING Rainwater is embraced as a resource and does the work of meeting many nonpotable water demands through widespread, integrated use of RWH across the community

11 PRINCIPLE 3 NEW GOVERNANCE AN INTEGRATED WATERSHED-BASED APPROACH Integrate ecosystembased land- and water-use management on a watershed scale Reorganize internal local government structures to enable planning and cooperation across departments

12 THE RAINWATER CITY

13 THE BUSINESS CASE FOR THE RAINWATER CITY City of Portland: will save more than $58 million and 40% less than the cost of traditional infrastructure solutions through large-scale integration of green infrastructure and targeted pipe replacement and repairs

14 A BLUEPRINT TO CHANGE THE FUTURE

15 A Lasting Impression 1) Reduce the amount of impermeable surfaces by changing the way we build and retrofit our communities 2) Use rain as a resource and as a viable decentralized source of water for non-potable needs 3) Integrate decision making on a watershed scale

16 POLIS Water Sustainability Project handbook series h p://poliswaterproject.org/toolkit

17 THANK YOU FUNDERS AND PARTNERS Environmental Law Centre, UVic Web:

18 PRINCIPLE 1 - BUILD IT BETTER - CASE STUDY PHILADELPHIA S GREEN CITY, CLEAN WATERS PLAN Fixing existing overflow problems using conventional grey infrastructure would cost the City more than US$10 billion Philadelphia instead decided to invest US $2.4 billion in green infrastructure over 25 years By recreating the natural systems degraded by urbanization, the City plans to convert more than one-third of its total drainage area into greened acreage + restore nearly 24 kilometres of urban streams

19 PRINCIPLE 2 - LET RAIN DO THE WORK - CASE STUDY GUELPH, ON: AN EARLY ADOPTER OF WIDESPREAD RAINWATER HARVESTING Guelph RWH Project began in 2005 with installation and monitoring of RWH systems across the city Reduces water demands by as much as 47% and site runoff by as much as 89%!25 Guelph s Indoor RWH Pilot

20 PRINCIPLE 3 NEW GOVERNANCE - CASE STUDIES City of Toronto s Wet Weather Flow Management Master Plan (2003) 25 year plan Geographic boundary of city covers 6 watersheds Represents a comprehensive approach to urban stormwater governance Metro Vancouver s Integrated Liquid Waste and Resource Management Plan Eco-system-based approach to managing stormwater on regional scale Plan ultimately integrates liquid and solid waste recovery, rainwater management, and land use planning for the entire Greater Vancouver area

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